Mini solar or battery light.

[malt25]

Hi all.

I realise this isn't the correct area for this topic, but I'm sure a mod will be along shortly to move to appropriate department.

I'm about to place a "spirit House" in our new garden. As an extra, I've thought of installing a small overhead light to highlight said house. Maybe even a minature light inside to keep the spirits company. I'm not familiar with solar, but moderatly experienced with 12v lighting.

I'd appreciate any ideas, advice. Thought 1 was a 12v car battery to power the lights. How long do you think a fully charged car battery would last, powering 2 small LED's for a few hours every night ? I guess I'd need a trickle charger to top up battery charge.

Idea 2 was solar. Absolutely NO idea where to start looking... or what to look for.

I trust I've supplied sufficient details for some advice.

Thanks in advance.

Mal.

[CharlieH]

Homepro and Thaiwatsadu, from 94 baht each dependent on size/design you like. Wife bought two butterflies, works a treat on solar.

[Crossy]

To answer your car battery question, a 50Ah 12V battery should run 3x white LEDs at 25mA for something like 6 months of nights. But you'll need some electronics to turn them on and off.

Far easier and cheaper to get a couple of solar lights (even Tesco have them).

[malt25]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

[malt25]

Thanks guys.

Bought a couple of cheap solar garden lights from Global House. Removed the solar panel, that also houses the battery. Have the cables running inside the spirit house, not visible from outside. Extended cables so solar panels now located on a fence post a few meters away from the spirit house. LED's positioned in the verandah roof of the house. The locals are somewhat impressed.

Cheers..... Mal.

[BKKdreaming]

do any of these garden solar lights charge 2 batteries ?

the ones I have charge a single (1.5v) battery , if there were any that did 2 then maybe I could get double the light ?

Do LEDs come in all voltages ?

[malt25]

The battery in these particular lights is 1.2v.

I'm not an electrician & know very little about this stuff... but... I'd say the LED's are rated at wharever wattage they are, & inasmuch increasing the battery voltage won't increase the brightness.

Running 2 batteries to the one LED might increase the running time ??? I haven't tested my system as yet, only finished it yesterday, but I'd guess a fully charged battery will run 1 LED for more than 12 hours.

The battery, 1.2v, in my system is same as a normal AAA rechargeable battery. So, if you have a universal type charger I guess you could charge as many batteries as you want.

I'm happy if someone likes to correct me. Like I said, I know bugger all about this stuff. I just had an idea, played about a bit & works ok. It's just a bit of a novelty thing. With the 2 LED's outside the actual spirit house, theylight up inside reasonably well. The light is visible from over 50m.

Cheers..... Mal.

[attrayant]

Caution: LED lighting can give spirits ectoplasmic cancer. Be sure to put plenty of turmeric inside.